


Flower Petals and Dragon Scales (Make the Best Armor)

by Hedgi



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Crime family AU kinda, Dragon Shifter AU, Eddie has powers, Iris is a baddass, Joe's dead, Metahumans can turn into dragons, Multi, Polyamory, Still not the strangest thing I've written, some characters who are dead in canon are not dead here, very AU ok just it's AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 23:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6062725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hedgi/pseuds/Hedgi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Particle Accelerator went online and subsequently exploded, Eobard Thawne as Harrison Wells was counting on Barry Allen to Fall into a coma, wake up, and at long last become the Flash. And that happened. What he hadn't been expecting was...everything else. Like the added bonus of Metahumans being able to turn into dragons, Eddie Thawne gaining powers of his own, and his own death at the jaws of one of the very metas he'd created. But that's old news.</p><p>By Day, Iris works for CCPN, top reporter on the city's more unusual happenings. By Day, Eddie and Barry balance Superheroing and their work with CCPD. By night, things are a little different. Daylight battles with the criminal underbelly only do so much good, after all, and Iris is more than willing to fight her own fight.<br/>aka<br/>(Darkish and also wtf Dragon AU Feat! Crimeboss(ish) Iris and her dragon boyfriends)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mikkal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikkal/gifts).



 

“How was patrol?” Iris called from her computer as Barry opened the front door.

“Fine,” he said, and she looked over at him, taking in the soot stains on his cheek.

“Liar,” she shook her head. “Was that a Flash fire rescue thing, or a dragon fire thing? Please tell me you waited for Eddie.”

“He’s busy, you know the CCPD’s overworked. And no, it wasn’t a dragon thing, I don’t think. House fire over on 6 th . Might have been the Rogues, but I don’t think so. Fire started small, there was warning. You know how dragonfire gets.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m starving.”

She waved him off, shaking her head. She did know—in the 7 months since he’d woken from his coma to the chaos that was Central City, she’d learned more than her seven year old self had ever dreamed of about dragons. It helped that she was dating two of them, or at least, that her two boyfriends hit by a wall of energy and a lightning bolt in the blast had woken up from  nine day and nine month comas respectively with superpowers and the ability to transform into actual dragons: scales, horns, wings and all. 

“Soup’s on the stove. Save some for Eddie. I found a lead, so we’re going out tonight. Might wanna tell our friends.”

“A lea fuh wha?” Barry asked, his mouth already full. “The kids, or Joe’s mu—“

“The kids,” Iris cut him off. “Another one went missing last night. It’s got to be our friends on the south side, getting above themselves. They think they can play in our garden.”

“Your garden, you mean,” Barry rolled his shoulders. “You don’t share, Flower.”

“I share with my crew,” she said, glancing up at him, reaching for his hand. “And you’re more than crew.”

He kissed her cheek. “If we’re tangling with the Santinis, I better get a nap in. Rumor’s got it that some of them have been palling around with the Rogues, and you know what that means. Don’t go without us, ‘Ris.”

“I  _ can _ handle myself, you know,” Iris said, more out of habit. “No one would dream of messing with—god, what did Cisco say was the new name going around? Obsidian Orchid?” She made a soft noise. “I liked Dark Flower better.”

“Cisco worried it might be too soft. Sharp as glass and hard as rock’s better for the streets.”

“It’s not the name they should fear,” Iris pointed out. “It’s me.”

“I liked whatever you call yourself,” another familiar voice as Eddie closed the door with several clicks, doing up the locks. Just because no one had connected Iris the journalist and her CCPD boyfriends to the Obsidian Orchid/Dark Flower and the dragons that guarded her back as she took back the streets didn’t mean that no one ever would, or that they wouldn’t risk going after a journalist with two cops/vigilantes who shared her home and bed. In some respects, Iris West was as dangerous to the criminal underbelly of the city as her counterpart.

“Eddie,” Iris beamed up at him, finally standing and flexing her fingers, rolling out the kinks in her back. Stilling still for too long drove her to distraction. “How was work?”

“If you mean, ‘How did Captain Singh like last night’s gift?’ then—well, he was glad. You know the CCPD’s been trying to figure out a way to contain metas, and they’ve been having a hell of a time catching any of the Rogues or Santinis or their kind, not with metas backing them. Honestly I think that if Cisco told Singh it was him he’d be offered a job in a heartbeat. The taskforce was thrown for a loop, though.”

“Well of course it was, you and Barry keep them chasing their tails.” Iris’s eyes crinkled in a smile, but it faded. “No new leads on Hail and Thunder?” Eddie shook his head, and Iris nodded--the Mardon brothers had been off the grid for months. “We have another job tonight. The Santinis are gleaning from our –yes, our—garden again. Another kid went missing, the little cat-dragon Caitlin’s been keeping an eye on. I’m not waiting any longer to teach these upstarts a lesson.”

“Are they upstarts if they’ve been here longer than you’ve been alive?” Barry murmured.

Eddie tousled his hair. “We’re bigger than they are, so yes. Any more of that soup?”

Barry gestured with his spoon at the kitchen. “Yep. It’s even good.”

“Don’t look at me. Mrs. Torres downstairs made it as a thank you.”

Eddie grinned. “I know we should remind her she’d get our protection anyway, but I’d hate to lose out on this.”

“I’ve tried telling her,” Iris shrugged. “She says it’s the least she can do, after we saved Mel.”

“The lower rent probably helps, Flower.” Eddie sank into the couch with a sigh, balancing his bowl of soup on his lap. Barry pulled his feet up, leaning against Eddie as he finished his soup and made a joking move towards Eddie’s bowl. Eddie growled, but laughed. “There’s more, you know.”

“I’d have to get up, and if we’re fighting tonight, I need to rest. I put out a fire today.”

“So that’s what the smell is,” Eddie teased. “I thought you’d set your lab on fire again.”

“That was one time,” Barry and Iris said together. Iris shook her head. “I need a shower. Get some rest, and text Cisco and Caitlin. Let them know it’s going down tonight, so if they’ve got anything for us, time’s ticking.”

 

* * *

Iris slipped into the persona of the Dark Flower, the Obsidian Orchid, the Woman Who Took Back The Streets as easily as she did the costume. It was more of Cisco’s work, like the suit barry wore as the Flash and eddie as Cobalt, the two heroes that fought by daylight, giving the city’s citizen’s hope. By night, when the gangs ruled, it was iris who fought the battles, though not alone. the dark purple and black uniform was elegant, sleek, iridescent, and felt like power. She allowed the flash of gold stitching at the seams, to mimic the gold of an Iris flower’s center, and to match the accents of the natural armor Eddie and Barry wore.  She’d been afraid, at first, after the Particle accelerator had exploded and half the city had turned on the other half, when the Mayor imposed a curfew only the desperate, the criminal, and the dragon dared break. 

Then her father had died, in an attack on STAR Labs that had cost Harrison Wells and several others their lives, and Iris had decided she was done being afraid. She’d gathered what remained of the little band they had--Caitlin, Cisco, Barry and Eddie--and told them what she wanted. It was more than revenge on the metas who had taken her father from her and the gangs that had to be sheltering them, it was for every family that had lost. This crusade wasn’t just for her, it was for the city, and she didn’t care what it took. Someone had to make a stand, and daylight fights of Light and Dark weren’t getting it done. She’d known they’d never let her go it alone. That was what she’d counted on. In the weeks since the explosion, they’d learned that Family was everything.

The Santini’s had a casino downtown, but that wasn’t where Iris wanted to strike. Even with a curfew in place, there was still a risk of civilians getting involved, or those solidary petty thieves who had clashed with the Dark Flower once and lived to regret and repent, the kind that carried information for her and could be counted on to take her side of things. No sense in cracking down on those who already respected her rule.

The manor house was nice, a wide driveway and garden, and she noticed a flat space bare of trees or shrubs--a perfect landing space for dragons. She looked to Barry and Eddie behind her, and flashed them a moon-lit grin, the amethyst studs in her ears winking. “Shall we?”

“After you,” Barry gestured to the door. She lifted one leg and slammed her heel into the door solidly, the additions to the heavy boots Cisco had built her kicking in. The thick wood splintered with the force of the explosion, and Iris grinned. It had been a lucky thing, taking out the transport van that some general had thought to use to hold a meta who as a dragon who had no breath weapon but the ability to transform more than herself. Bette spent most of her time in dragon form, skittish, but with Caitlin’s help she was starting to ease, and the oils from her skin had a plethora of uses. One of which included exploding doors, and the purple gleam was an added bonus.

Iris strode through the hall with her chin up and shoulders back, her dark hair carefully coiled and pinned, looking for all the world like Persephone, Queen of Hell. Two purpled globes, courtesy again of Bette and Caitlin working in tandem with Cisco, served as flashbangs, enough to daze the unlucky saps serving as Santini’s guard detail for the night--she’d deal with them properly later, if they lived. They didn’t always.

“Santini,” she said, letting the name-title forgotten-hang.

The man in front of her, seated at a heavy wood desk--and there was stupidity itself, so much wood in one place, paled. Though, Iris thought, that might have been only the poor lighting. Barry and eddie had done their part well, and she could count down the seconds in her head until phase two of the surprise meeting fell into place.

“Orchid,” he said, charisma dripping from old lips, honey thick, cloying. “To what do I owe this pleasure? Drink?”

“You have some nerve, picking from my garden. I thought you knew the rules.” She clucked her tongue, eyeing the Crime Family head and his two lap dog bodyguards. She was fairly certain she could have taken them without her boys or any of the toys Cisco had cooked up for her. That said, she was ruthless, not merciless. They’d have a chance to fess up and fix their errors. Whether or not they saw the light and took the chance, well...

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Santin plastered a smile on. “Perhaps we can resolve this misunderstanding over--”

“Liar,” Iris snapped. “The rules, all three of which you’ve flaunted as of late.You keep your activities minimal so the curfew can finally end, you stay on your side of the fence, and you don’t touch the children. Explain why, exactly, you thought you could do what you wanted without consequences. You’ve got about twelve seconds, so speak wisely.”

“ _C_ _agna_ ,   if you think you are the boss of me--you don’t own this city, sprout, and I’d advise you to think about your position here. You overstep your reach.” An additiional half dozen men, armed, some familiar from her father’s cases entered through a side door, and Iris side stepped, counting silently, until her back was to the outside wall. 

“You’re the one overthinking your power here, Santini.”

“You think you alone can take me and my men? Even dark flowers burn, little girl.”

“Who said I was alone?” the words were almost lost as the wall behind her exploded, two hulking forms busting in. Over her left shoulder loomed Barry, large even by dragon standards at twelve feet, each blood-rose scale lined in gold, a twisting crown of golden horns like a crown and lightning sparking between bared fangs. Above her right Eddie stood, a little smaller but no less imposing. His scales, rounded like links of chainmail, shone with an inner flare, a deep blue lit with spots of gold. Talons nearly half a foot long crushed bits of wall as he shifted his bulk, jaw hanging open enough to reveal the ball of blue flame.

One of the men fired, the bullet struck the center of Iris’s chest and clattered to the ground. She smirked, making a show of inspecting the lack of damage before a bolt of lightning struck the man in the chest. He dropped, smoking.

“Don’t. Try. That. Again,” Barry ground out. English was not the easiest of human languages for Dragon vocal cords, but the guttural harshness of it, like stones and thunder, had a wonderful effect. 

“Now,” Iris said, any warmth gone from her voice. “Tell me where the metahuman children you and your boys have been snatching are, and which metas you’ve been dealing with to need that lovely landing pad, and maybe, possibly, I’ll find it in my heart to not have my crew eat yours.”

 

They left the house in flames, Iris on Eddie’s back, the girl from down their street in her arms while four more children, ranging from around six to maybe twelve, clung to Barry’s spines. Their families would need to be found, but first they could do with a meal and a check over from Caitlin, Iris decided. Cisco would be pleased that the new suit stood up so well, he’d need to be told.

* * *

 

 

Their lair was a simple affair, thirty miles out, built into the side of a hill in the badlands, with the best security money could buy, Cisco could build, or criminals desperate to get into the dark Flower’s good graces could offer. Needless to say, Iris trusted the home-build tech best. It had escape hatches, small labs, rooms for resting or healing big enough for dragons. Most of the team lived in the building that Eddie, Iris, and Barry called home, since Barry had bought it with the money left to him by Harrison Wells, but some of the team, like Bette, prefered to stay as far from humankind as possible. It was simple enough, also serving as HQ for the Flash and Cobalt Blue, but that didn’t mean it lacked comforts. in addition to enough bedrooms to house most all of their remaining loved ones and a few extra civilians if they decided to pack in tight, there was a small, cozy library, Cisco’s gear room stuffed with bits and pieces and extra tools, a massive swimming pool sized hot tub for cold nights--Bette especially loved it-- and a well stocked pantry and kitchen. Iris, Eddie, and Barry got the children set up with Caitlin and Bette, Barry ditching his dragon form because it was honestly faster to run than fly to pick up some ice cream for them.

 

That settled, and home again, Iris stripped off her suit, swapping it for fuzzy pajamas instead.

“We’ll find the Mardons,” Barry said, joining her at the window. “You know we will.”

“Eventually,” she hummed.   
Eddie padded over, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. “Bed. Tomorrow’s another day. Someone’s gonna have to write about the Dark Flower’s latest strike against the criminal underbelly of the city, and Barry’s gonna have to make sure none of us left behind evidence when we get called in tomorrow.”

Iris sighed, leaning into him. “I’m coming. C’mon, Bear.”

Barry nodded, taking a last look at the skyline before closing the blinds. The city was peaceful, calm, just a few wisps of smoke drifting from near the south side.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another gift for Mikkal!

Barry had spent over two years working with the police, three if you were to count his coma, and a further seven months balancing that with his side jobs. Being a superhero by day and the dragon bodyguard of the Obsidian Orchid, leader of what couldn’t technically be called a crime family but was close enough  _ really  _ should have gotten him used to danger. Still, when he woke up to find someone standing over him and a gun pressing into the soft flesh of his neck, Barry bit back a yelp of panic.

 

Sure, the security in the apartment he shared with Iris and Eddie  wasn’t as good as at their real headquarters out in the badlands, but it wasn’t like they didn’t lock the door.  Even with the Orchid making it clear that this apartment building and block fell in her jurisdiction, there was too much crime in the city for carelessness, especially when some of the gangs employed or were run by metahumans, those changed by the particle accelerator and gifted with both extra-human powers and the ability to become something more than human. One of those gangs had torched an entire neighborhood block, early on, and chaos had only let up slightly, as Barry, Iris, and Eddie fought against it in each of their Identities. Where Journalist Iris couldn’t get in, the Orchid went, and where both the police and superheroes Flash and Cobalt could not go, dragons often could. They’d known the risks that someone might go after Iris or himself to get at Eddie, who’d been promoted into major crimes after Joe’s murder, but now that it was happening…

 

“No funny moves, kid,” the masked gunman said. Barry swallowed. He’d been up half the night the day before, what with the Santinis, and really just wanted the nap. He weighed his options. As either the flash or his dragon form, he could take this guy, but the apartment was a little cluttered and smaller than was really adequate for fighting at superspeed, or at least this part of the living room was. Plus, it would be better to learn who this idiot worked for, and how much they knew.

 

“What do you want?” Barry found he had to try to make himself sound scared. If this had been a few months ago, he might have been, but now he was more angry, the instinctual panic gone almost as soon as it had started.  

 

“Don’t tell me your little girlfriend’s been keeping secrets from you,” the man jeered. “My boss needs to control the Orchid, and you’re the best way to do that. Hands on your head.”

 

_ Well, shit.  _  Someone knew who Iris was. Hopefully from the way they assumed he didn’t, they weren’t aware of Barry’s role as more than a day-dreaming CSI boyfriend. Barry looked at the man’s gun. Compact 92 Beretta. That was no help, not really, not in identifying. His hand though, not the one that held the gun but his left, was marked. Frostbite scarring, or a tattoo made to mimic it. There was only one gang that did that. The Rogues. Well, Iris would be glad enough for an excuse at all out war with them. 

 

“I don’t think so,” Barry said, lightning flickering dangerously in his eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

“Barry, what’s with the new lock?” Iris asked as soon as he opened the door. Eddie was with her, having gotten off his shift at the same time she had.

“One of Snart’s minions tried to kidnap me for bait or leverage against you,” Barry said, shrugging. “I’m fine.”

“Not you I’m worried about,” Eddie said, offering him a quick kiss. “Where’s the body?”

Barry shrugged again. “Gone. He didn’t taste very good.”

“Barry,” Iris chided.

“I’m kidding, Flower. Cisco’s calorie bars are enough for me, besides there’s no telling where that guy’d been, I don’t want to get cholera or something.”

“You have died of dysentery,” Eddie quoted, wrinkling his nose. “Where is he? What’s Snart want with me?”

“Not you, Iris. The Rogues know, at least part. That you’re the Orchid.”

Iris sighed. “Clearly they didn’t know you’re more than a pretty face.”

“My face is  _ very  _ pretty,” Barry agreed. “But you’re right. He thought a gun would scare me. What a joke.”

“You did kill him, right?” Eddie asked, frowning. “He pulled a gun on you?”

“He’s dead. Don’t worry, I can take care of myself. I ran him out to the badlands first, didn’t wanna risk blood dripping into Ms. Torres’ livingroom. Hardly neighborly. Thought Caitlin and I could figure out where he’s been. We didn’t learn much but we have a tentative location...and there’s something else.”

“What?” Iris asked, already going through her mental list, preparing her speech. She’d tolerated Snart’s crew, aside from a few skirmishes, because they respected the rules: didn’t do much more than steal, didn’t target children or parents with young children, stayed in their own turf. But they’d come into her home, attacked her boyfriend. 

“Hail and Thunder. The Mardon brothers. They’ve joined the Rogues. Found a few of their scales, the little bitty ones, in the gunman’s boot tread.”

 

Iris narrowed her eyes, and both Barry and Eddie froze. Mark Mardon had been the dragon that had killed Joe, months ago. As soon as the Dark Flower, now Obsidian Orchid, had established her authority, she’d informed Snart, Don Santini, the Darbinians, all of them, that any word of the meta brothers was to be passed along to her. She’d passed it off as mere vengeance for the entire block of houses they’d destroyed, but clearly Snart had seen through that, and connected Joe’s death to the Orchid’s request. 

 

“You said you had a location?” she asked, voice dangerous.

“Yeah,” Barry started. “There’s a factory, near keystone, but--Iris--”

“This ends tonight. I’m not waiting for them to go after Mel downstairs, or my work friends, or you again. Tell Cisco to get that thermal threading in my suit done, see if you can talk Bette into fighting with us. Eddie, think Blue can go have a little chat with the new head of the Santinis?”

Eddie nodded. “Time and place?”

“That factory. I’m thinking midnight.”

 

* * *

 

Bette didn’t need much in the way of convincing, and Cisco had long since finished the newest incarnation of Iris’s suit, the purple a little darker, the gold accents a little wider. The main issue, once the Santinis had been notified and Eddie had gotten their word that they would back the Orchid, was preventing Iris from trying to leave early, and trying to stop Roya, the little cat-dragon meta who hadn’t had a home to be returned to, from joining. 

 

Caitlin had eventually had to catch her and send her to bed with a promise of ice cream for breakfast.  “Iris,” she said, once Roya was safely in her little room, and Bette was checking the supply of purple flashbangs. “Are you sure you can do this?”

“Do what?” Iris asked, eyes over-bright. “Take down the dragons that killed my dad? The Rogues have...bigger numbers than we do, but that’s without the Santinis.”

Caitlin raised both eyebrows, because she had never really mastered the art of only arching one. “And you’re sure the Santinis will side with you? You burned down half their family stronghold last night.”

“They will be, if they don’t all want to pay for it,” Iris spat.

 

Barry approached at a light jog, not bothering to speed as Caitlin slunk away to prepare her med-bay.

“Iris, Caitlin’s right. If the Santini’s don’t side with us...the Rogues have more dragons than we have going period. Maybe we should...hold off.”

Iris looked at him. “ How can you say that? I’ve been looking for the Mardons for  _ months.  _ And now we find them, and you want me to, what, ignore it? Be weak? I have to enforce my laws, or--”

“Your dad wouldn’t want you to risk your life,” Barry said, thinking of the faded memory of the man in yellow, of his mother screaming. Iris shook her head, turning away. Barry caught her hand.

“I swore to Dad I’d get justice for him. Don’t you dare tell me he wouldn’t want this, Barry,” she whispered. “ I know he wouldn’t. But he’s gone, and I have to do this.”

Barry nodded. “I’m with you, Flower. Any fight. Any war.”

Eddie joined them, snagging Iris’s free hand and bringing it to his lips so he could kiss it. 

“Time to go,” he said. “Let’s end this.”

Iris reached for the gun Cisco had built her and slipped it into the holster at her side. 

“Yes,” she said, eyes dancing as Cisco opened the wide doors to reveal the starry sky above them, and first Bette, then Barry and Eddie shifted, spreading their wings, “Let’s.”

**Author's Note:**

> ~Shrugs~ I have no idea what just happened but I hope y'all like it. I may revisit this AU at some point, not sure, but...  
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKKAL!!!!!


End file.
